This is my good buddy Wayne who I went to middle school, high school, and college with. About ten years ago, he and his father, Big Lem, started L&W processing, a business specifically revolving around the processing of deer in hunting season for local hunters.

It has since turned into a year round operation they can barely keep up with at times. They now process hogs, cows, goats, and sheep outside of deer season, while also running a fish market, which is attached to the butcher shop. During deer season they process around 1700 deer, and at points he has had people working up there around the clock to keep up.

I did this environmental portrait of him when I was home visiting for Thanksgiving in 2011, and have just now gotten around to looking at and processing the shots. It’s a portrait of him standing in one of their freezers that is totally full of deer waiting to be processed.

Wayne is one of the nicest and most approachable people you could ever meet. He has a freakish ability / talent when it comes to hunting, so the business is perfect for him since he gets to do nothing but interact with other hunters during the hunting season. Well, kind of perfect; it really cuts into his own personal hunting time.

Wayne is about as country as it gets. He is also one of the most intelligent people I know. In high school he wouldn’t even bother to carry books, or even a pen and a notebook. So every single class he had with me he would ask me to borrow a pen and a piece of paper so he could just “look” like he was taking notes to the teacher. He’d do this and still make A’s. When we went to college I would have thought this would have changed – but no. He would ask to borrow my textbook for classes we had together an hour or so before a major test, cram for them while sitting in his truck in the parking lot, an then walk in there and make an A on the test.

I’m glad to call him a friend. We have had lots of good times together.

This is Jonas, and he has worked for L&W for a few years now. I had him stand in for a lighting test before I got Wayne in there since they were so busy the day I shot these. I like this portrait of him just as much as the portrait of Wayne though – or more. I absolutely LOVE how the curve of his right shoulder mimics the curve of the deer carcass it is right next to. Look at the lines, it’s like they fit together like puzzle pieces. Me doing this shot seemed to make Jonas’ day, so I’m looking forward to finally getting a print of it to him while I’m home visiting for Christmas this year.